Johnny Depp’s Notorious B.I.G. Movie Has Been Pulled One Month Before Scheduled Release

Deadline reports that City of Lies, the crime drama starring Depp as an LAPD detective (alongside Forest Whitaker as a journalist) investigating the 1997 drive-by murder of Notorious B.I.G., has been pulled from the film’s planned Sept. 7 release — a date that was significant because it would have marked the 46th birthday of Biggie Smalls. The decision follows a July 9 lawsuit from the film’s location manager, who has accused Depp of assault and battery. More details follow below:

“The news comes less than month after the film’s location manager sued Depp, accusing the actor of assault and battery on the set in April 2017. Gregg “Rocky” Brooks said he was repeatedly hit by Depp after being informed that filming that night in downtown L.A. was going to have to wrap late. The 10-claim suit, which also names Furman and producers Miriam Segal, Good Film Productions and Depp’s Infinitum Nihil, seeks damages for hostile work environment, retaliation, and wrongful termination among the claims.”

Although the film’s trailer was well received, audiences may never get a chance to watch the final product. According to the movie’s synopsis, both Depp and Whitaker’s characters are relentless in their quest to unveil a conspiracy over why the mystery of Smalls’ death (which followed six months after rival Tupac Shakur’s death in Las Vegas) remains unsolved. Lawyers on both sides of the lawsuit are currently hashing out negotiations in an attempt to settle, but as of now, no new release date has been specified by distributor Global Road.